The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1887-03-31


The citizens of Stockton at their annual town
meeting, March II, appropriated sum of
money to mark the grave of Joseph p. Martin,
a soldier of the Revolutionary War. The
amount voted is sufficient to erect good monll-
ment. Sergeant Martins grave is in the ceme-
terry at Sandy Point, beside that of his wife,
The headstone which marked his grave was
following inscription:
Joseph p. Martin,
A soldier of the Revolution;
died
May 2, 1850,
Aged 80 yrs. mos. and 10 ds.
Through much fatigue, and many dangers passed,
The war-worn soldiers braved his way at last.
The couplet is the finale of book written
by our hero, bearing the following title: GA
narrative of some of the Adventures, Dangers
and Sutferings of Revolutionary Soldier;
Interspersed with Anecdotes of Incidents that
Occurred within his own Observation. Written
by Himself" 1t was printed in 1880 by Glazier,
Masters \ Co., at No. Kennebec Row, Hallo-
well, and copyrighted by James Sullivan Mar
tin.
The author, whose name nowhere appears in
his work, was born in Berkshire County,
Massachusetts, in 1860. His father was Il Con-
gregationalist minister, a graduate of Yale Col
legc. Martins early life was spent with his
maternal grandfather in New Haven County,
Connecticut. A desire to enlist early took
possession of him. but his grandparents were
opposed to his joining the army of patriots
t1,n,, |,
had been so kind to him that he was unwilling
to enlist without their knowledge, so he seems
to have wished for some af'ront from them,
which would furnish an excuse. He had not
long to wait. In the fall of 17,3 he was
promised, that in return for certain work to be
done, he should attend Commencement ut New
Haven in company with several of his play
mates. But when the day arrived, he was
sent with young man to rake and pole off the
hay from a marsh. Full of rebelious feelings
he loitered at the work. What happened next
is best told in his own words, which give an
example of his style.
''We poled onc cock of hay off the marsh,
when we saw the old gentleman coming. full
drive, Jehu-like; down he came. when, 10 and
behold. we had gotten one cock of hay only. in
a condition to be taken upon the cart; what
was to be donc-to go on to the marsh was
dangerous in the extreme, to stop then to pole
it off would not do, the time would not allow
it, o, my grandsre was in wofu passion. |
stood aloof. Whose fault was it, he inquired:
the blame was quickly laid to my account, and
justly too, for was the only culprit. The old
gentleman came at me, hammer and tongS,
with his six feet cart whip. Oh, thought to
myself, good legs, do your duty now, if ever; ;
good earnest"
But it was not until June 1916 that he enlist
cd, when he was but fifteen and half years
old. What follows is rather monotonous tale
of suffering. Nearly every page has some
account of starving or eating, oftene>t the
former Each chapter begins with an original
rhyme. Thus, Chapter III. has ut its head:
At Uncle Joc's l lived at ease;
Had cider, and good bread and cheese;
But while stay'd at Uncle Sans
I'd nought to eat but 'faith and CLANS"
"Unclc joe is presumably his grandsire, for
whom he was named.
Tie soldiers We're left to their own eXertions
to find their rations, and that while pcrform-
ing the hardest services. Hunger, fatigue and
cold We're by far more formidable enemies to
the patriots than We're the British regulars.
The effect on the soldiers was not always so
good as when, one time, they wished for the
enemy to attack them, because, as Martin says,
1--WE We're sure OF giving Them Il lrubbing, be-
M i'm trjp, Il Il
as cross and i-naturcd as curS.'
The author got we'll into the fight ut once.
His first services We're under General Putnam,
in New York, being constantly exposed to the
enemy'S fire while on Long Island and at White
Plains. At the end of the campaign his term
but enlisted again in the spring. His "advent-
nres and sufferings'' were now in the Middle
States until the end of the war. He saw some
of the hardest fighting in that region but he
always finds time to tell of some ludcrous
event which excited what he called his ''levitv,"
such as Il farm house cat in the pot, gnawin. at
the beef, enveloped in steam; or Il bee sting on
the naturally too prominent lip of a comradc.
He mentions one occasion when shot was lack
ing. the officers offered gill of rum for each
shot the soldiers could procure. Fifty men
stood at time impatiently waiting the coming
of the cncmy's shot. which would be seized
before motion fully ceased, and promptly re-
turned.
His hardest experience during the war was
at the siege of Mud Island in the Delaware,
November LII, where the defending Ameri-
cans were without provisions or clothing Our
hero had not as he says, So scrap of either
shoes or stockings to feet VI legs" He gives,
as a reason why this defence was not made
history, that Il few officers and soldiers accom-
plished it in Il remote quarter of the army. and
''there was no Washington, Putnam, or Wayne
there"
With innocent irony he tells of the Thanks
giving dinner of that year. For two or three
days previous they had had nothing furnished
them, but now for a feast. ''And what do you
think it was, rcadcr?-G -GueSs-You cannot
guess, beyou as much of Yankee as you will.
L Will tell you: it gave each and every man
hdif gill of rice, and a toble spoon of Vine
gar!' Valley Forge and the battle of Mon
IioutH WcTc paTtlclpltcu Ill. Latc III l $50 his
fortunes were improved by transfer to Il
corps of sappcrs and miners, followed bv Il
promotion to the rank of sergeant. This was
the year of Arnods treachery. Martin had
been acquainted with him from his childhood.
While at PeekskilI, being on guard in a barn,
Arnold. who must then have been negotiating
with the British, wished to make his bed there,
and ordered our hero and his men out .'',rhere
are men, says Shakespeare, 'who in their sleep
mutter all their conceits.' Such an one was
Arnold.'
In 1871
II saw the plun'cring British bands
made the fair Nirginian lands.
saw great Washington advance
With Americans and troops of France;
saw the naughty Brtons yield,
And stock their muskcts on the tield.''
While with the French months pay in specie
was received, the first of what could be called
money that they had received since '76, as it
was also the last. Joining Lafayette at Williams
burg, the siege of Yorktown soon followed,
and CORVALLIS surrender was witnessed, Octo-
Der 10, 1881.
1t was not untilJune II, 1888, that the author
received discharge, eeithoM pay. To better
l.s